Apparel Preorder Fulfillment

Preorders let an apparel brand sell a style before production is finished. That brings in cash earlier, shows real demand by size before you reorder, and lets you announce a collection while it is still on the water.

For streetwear and creator brands, preorders also extend a drop. The limited stock sells out in an hour, and a preorder window catches the customers who missed it. For surf and seasonal brands, a preorder can lock in demand for a summer line before the factory ships.

The risk is on the fulfillment side. A preorder backlog lands all at once, alongside your normal orders. If it is not planned, the backlog slows everything else down, and customers who waited weeks wait a few more days.

Most brands hold preorders in the store or in a preorder app, and release them to the warehouse once inventory is received and available. That keeps the warehouse queue clean. Only orders that can actually ship are sent to be picked.

The alternative is sending preorders to the warehouse immediately, where they wait as backorders. That can work, but it makes the queue harder to read and makes partial shipments more likely.

The right choice depends on your platform, your preorder app and how often customers mix preorder and in-stock items. Talk it through with us before you open the preorder window, not after. We will tell you what we see working.

A customer buys a preorder hoodie and an in-stock tee. Do you ship the tee now and the hoodie later, or hold both?

• Ship separately: the customer gets the tee quickly, but you pay for two shipments.
• Hold together: one shipment, but the in-stock item waits for the preorder.
• Block mixing: some brands do not allow preorder and in-stock items in one cart.

There is no single right answer. Decide it as a policy, set it in your store, and tell your customers at checkout. The warehouse follows the order as it arrives.

1. Share the expected arrival date and the number of preorders by style and size as soon as you know them.
2. Book the inbound with a dock appointment and send an advance shipping notice listing every SKU and quantity.
3. On arrival, cartons are inspected for damage, matched to the ASN, scanned, photographed and slotted, within one business day.
4. Any shortage or overage against the ASN is flagged in your portal, so you know right away if a size came in short.
5. You release the held preorders, or your app does, once the stock shows as available.
6. Labor scheduled for the backlog picks and packs the preorders, oldest first if you want them in order.
7. Orders imported by 12 PM PST ship the same day.

If a size comes in short, the preorders for that size cannot all ship. Decide ahead of time who gets the units first. Most brands go by order date.

Preorder customers are patient, up to a point. Most complaints come from silence, not from the wait itself.

• Show the expected ship window on the product page and in the confirmation email.
• Send an update when production finishes and again when stock ships from the factory.
• Send a note when the stock is received and orders are being packed.
• If the date slips, say so early and offer an option to cancel.

Your account manager can tell you the moment inventory is received and slotted, so your update goes out the same day.

A preorder is the best sizing data you will get. Customers have told you exactly which sizes they want before you place the next order.

Compare preorder demand by size with what you ordered from the factory. If larges sold through in the preorder and smalls did not, adjust the curve for the restock. See size curve planning and restocks.

Before you open a preorder, decide and publish the answers to the questions customers will ask. Your store and your preorder app will have settings for most of them.

• When is the customer charged: at checkout, or when the order ships?
• What is the expected ship window, and how will you tell customers if it moves?
• Can a preorder be cancelled, and until when?
• Can a preorder be exchanged for a different size before it ships?
• Is the return policy the same as for in-stock items?

Write the answers on the product page, in the confirmation email and in your FAQ. A customer who knows what to expect will wait. A customer who was surprised will ask for a refund.

Some brands run a limited in-stock drop and open a preorder for the same style when it sells out. That is a strong way to capture demand, but it creates two order streams for one style.

1. Use clear product names or tags so preorder and in-stock orders are easy to tell apart.
2. Ship the in-stock drop first, as normal.
3. Hold the preorders until the second production run is received.
4. Release and ship the preorders in order, with a note in the box if you like.

Tell your account manager about both streams ahead of time. Labor for the drop and for the preorder release can then be planned as two separate events.

Marketplaces and wholesale accounts have their own rules on preorders and ship times. Check each channel's current requirements before listing a preorder there, because a late shipment can affect your account standing on some marketplaces.

If a wholesale account has ordered the same style, decide how much of the incoming stock is held for that purchase order before preorders are released. See allocating stock between DTC and wholesale.

If you are unsure, start small. Open preorders for one restock of a proven style and see how customers respond before you run a whole collection that way.

Labor for a preorder release is planned from a few numbers. Send them as soon as you have them, and update them as the window closes.

• Total preorders held, by style, color and size.
• How many of those orders also contain in-stock items.
• The expected arrival date at our dock, and the freight tracking.
• Any packaging or insert used only for preorders.
• The order you want the backlog shipped in.

With those numbers, your account manager can tell you how the release will run and when the last preorder should leave the building.

Once the backlog ships, watch three things closely for the next two weeks.

• Exchanges. Preorder customers ordered weeks ago and may have guessed their size. Expect some exchanges and make sure the exchange sizes are in stock.
• Late inbound. If part of the production arrives in a second shipment, the preorders waiting on it need their own release.
• Customer questions. Send tracking quickly. A customer who waited weeks expects to see the package moving.

Returns from a preorder are processed like any other, within 48 hours of receipt, so exchange inventory is back on the shelf quickly. Your account manager will flag anything unusual, like a size with an unexpected number of returns, so you can check the fit before the next run.

Finally, review the numbers. How many preorders came in by size? How many were cancelled? How long did customers wait? Those answers shape the next preorder and the next production order.